Goals From Jones, Rooney And Welbeck Propels Manchester United To An Easy Win

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Manchester United climbs up to sixth in the table with a clinical display against West Bromwich Albion.

With Everton not playing in this game-week, Manchester United had the opportunity to leap-frog the Merseyside club into sixth place with a win over West Brom and they grabbed this chance clinically. Manchester United have also closed down their gap with Tottenham Hotspur, who suffered a big loss against Chelsea, and they still have a game in hand. A top five finish is now looking more likely for the reigning Premier League champions, provided they can maintain the deliver the kind of performance they produced against Everton yesterday.

The away side controlled the match from the start and Phil Jones provided them with the lead as he headed home from a Robin van Persie free-kick. United had to wait till the second half for their second goal as Rafael picked out Wayne Rooney at the far post and the England international headed the ball into the back of the net from a close range. Danny Welbeck added a third in the 82nd minute after he set up by a lovely little pass by Wayne Rooney and the young Englishman took his chance well.

West Brom have now managed to win just one of their 19 matches in all competitions and Pepe Mel is yet to open his account in that department since taking over. With Cardiff City winning their match against Fulham, the Baggies can find themselves in the relegation zone soon if this form continues.

David Moyes was pleased with the result and performances of his key players like Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie. He also insisted that there was conscious effort to improve their play in the final third of the pitch.

“I thought Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney were excellent.

“Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj too, but we also needed a good defensive performance as well so, all round, I’m pleased.

“The pitch was very lively, it was drying out a little bit and it wasn’t that easy to pass the ball, but we looked much more potent going forward and looked more likely to score than we have in other games.

Moyes fielded a relatively inexperienced center back pairing of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in this game and the clean sheet delighted the United manager. He was full of praise for the duo and Rafael, who produced a wonderful performance on the right.

“I thought Smalling and Jones played really well.

“Smalling was excellent by all accounts for England too, while Jones is a very good player.

“We needed to make sure he’s ready to play and [for the first goal] it was a really good header by Phil after Rafael did good work down the right and got the free-kick.

“Robin’s delivery was excellent and, thankfully, Phil got across his defender and scored.” – He added.